Andrew J. Rausch

Generation Tarantino by Andrew Rausch is a fun and informative read about a group of directors who came to prominence in the 90s and spoke specifically to that period.

I don't feel the need to give you my life history or a recap of my formal and informal education in film, it isn't relevant to this book. Even the most casual movie fan who remembers the 90s will enjoy and appreciate this book. In fact, one of the reasons is because it doesn't get so deep that you need a broad background in show more film, just a fan's love.

I much prefer the discussion when the term generation simply refers to a group, such as these directors, who share certain sensibilities that also speak to the times they were in. It is the forcing of the generation tags many seem to want to wear rather than be open minded that gets annoying. These aren't all "Gen X" directors and it wasn't just "Gen X" who could relate to the films. I'm certain that a late twentysomething or early thirtysomething in the early 90s related to these films better, at that time, than a 15-20 year old. I say with certainty because I am one of those people. The false demarcations of Boomer, Gen X, etc serves some very broad purpose but loses its value when trying to shoehorn Boomer directors into Gen X shoes. It isn't about Boomer or Gen X, it is about some of the population during a specific time frame experiencing a shared social and cultural world. But some people seem to tie their self-worth, or denigrate someone else's worth, based on arbitrary generational lines.

Having ranted enough about that, this book walks back and forth across both uses of the term generation, and it works in this case. These directors captured what was going on during that time (and even earlier as evidenced by Dazed and Confused) in unique and powerful ways, helping those of us going through it to see ourselves and our friends in these stories.

What probably connects these directors more than some kind of generational thing is that their film education was informal or less formal than the previous group of directors usually linked together. That isn't to say they didn't get that same information, they just got it largely from watching the previous "generation" and applying what struck them most to the world they found themselves in.

I would highly recommend this to both those readers who remember the 90s films as especially speaking to them as well as readers who simply enjoy reading about film history. If your interest isn't specifically 90s films this is still valuable because understanding how these directors started helps to appreciate and understand what they have done since then.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

This was a toss up between 2 and 3 stars. The movies covered are an interesting mix and are most definitely trash cinema. To the extent that one can call a film from this genre a masterpiece there were certainly a few included. My disappointment with the book is not with the films selected but with the lack of consistency between the write-ups (they weren't reviews and some barely discussed the film, simply the "gams and...rump" on the covers and how "horny" the writer was as a show more teenager).

When I first opened the book, I was surprised to discover that there was no introduction. This is usually where you get the idea of how the editors envisioned the collection of essays and what might have been asked of the contributors. In other words, what connects these particular essays (?) beyond some large genre label. Come to find out there apparently was no vision for this collection beyond giving friends (I assume they are friends, at least the one named Allen Richards, since he is definitely neither a writer nor particularly intelligent) the opportunity to talk about how they used to sneak these videos into their homes as adolescents (though I can't say for sure some of these aren't still adolescent). A few of the chapters (there, a name for the things I can live with, they were indeed chapters) were interesting and actually talked about the movie as well as personalizing why the writer has an interest. The ones that were good were very interesting but having childish drivel scattered throughout was just frustrating.

While I clearly don't care for the lack of consistency or the way some of the chapters represented little more than the writer's wet dream, I would still recommend the book to people who want to know both the interesting aspects (from the writers who actually wrote about the films) as well as the ugly (in the person of the horribly childish 'writers') of trash cinema. Some viewing suggestions will likely come from reading the book and you can always skip the juvenile chapters. Just because it is called trash cinema doesn't mean the writing has to be trash, at least I don't think so.

Reviewed from an ARC made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less